


Best of a Bad Situation

by Leahelisabeth (fortheloveofcamelot)



Category: All For The Game - Nora Sakavic
Genre: Alternate Universe - Bar/Pub, Fake/Pretend Relationship, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-11
Updated: 2018-12-11
Packaged: 2019-09-16 07:05:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,023
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16949289
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fortheloveofcamelot/pseuds/Leahelisabeth
Summary: Matt drags Neil out to a bar, only to ditch him for a pretty bartender. Neil gets into trouble and is rescued by a short blond asshole.





	Best of a Bad Situation

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the AFTG Exchange on Tumblr for @rainbowd00dles

Neil leaned on the bar, sipping his diet coke and doing his best to blend into his surroundings. Matt was a couple feet away from him, following the pretty bartender with his eyes like a love sick puppy. Neil would have told him off for being creepy but the girl seemed weirdly into it, laughing at his jokes, adding extra shots to his drinks free of charge, touching his hand across the bar.

Neil could not believe that Matt had begged him to come out with him, on Christmas Eve no less, just to ditch him at the bar. Matt practically giggled as Dan pulled his head down to hers, whispering in his ear. Matt’s ears went red and he looked at her in wonder as she beckoned him to follow her into the back. Another bartender, this one short, blond, and stone-faced, slid into Dan’s spot and took over filling the patron’s orders.

Neil looked at his watch. It was barely past ten and it looked like his roommate was in for the long haul. He would have taken an Uber home but the last time he did that, Matt had panicked and gone looking for him, going so far as to call the police and organize a city wide manhunt while Neil was curled up in bed, right where he belonged.

“Well, hello cutie,” a voice came from beside him, startling him into splashing his wine onto his shirt.

“Shit,” he muttered under his breath, but he turned to the person beside him. “What?” he asked.

The guy was red faced and a little sloppy, and probably twice Neil’s size. “What’s a pretty little thing like you doing in a place like this?” he wheezed, his sour beer breath washing over Neil’s face.

“Well it wasn’t so I could listen to cliche pick up lines from drunk idiots,” Neil said. The blond at the bar snorted quietly. Neil turned to look at him but there was no indication he was paying attention.

“Pretty and a sharp tongue, Daddy like,” the man leered, leaning in even more uncomfortably closely.

Neil choked on the stale scent of unwashed armpit and sweaty crotch. “Oh great, my two biggest turn ons. I always wanted a daddy who spoke about himself in the third person,” Neil rolled his eyes.

“Perfect,” the man purred, hot breath making Neil’s ear sweat. “Should Daddy tell you what he’s going to do to you once he takes you home?”

“Dude, fuck off, I’m not interested,” Neil said. He realized immediately he had pushed too far. The lust on the man’s face instantly transformed into rage.

“You little tease,” he said, shoving Neil into the bar so hard he felt his ribs creak.

“Not my fault you can’t take a hint,” Neil gasped.

The man pushed harder and Neil felt something crack and all his air left him in a blinding rush of pain.

“Dude, fuck off, he’s not interested,” a flat voice interrupted Neil’s agony.

“Minyard, you have interfered for the last time,” the man growled.

“This one is mine. I don’t like it when people touch my things,” Minyard drawled.

“Right, like someone like you could get someone like this to date you,” The man sneered.

Minyard hopped the counter and shoved his way between Neil and the man. “It’s simple really,” he said. “I listen to him when he says no.” Minyard’s body was warm against Neil’s side and he couldn’t keep himself from sagging into him and allowing his strength to hold him up. Neil caught a glint of silver in the corner of his eye and the man backed off immediately, hands up.

“Geez, someone should put a leash on you, fucking monster,” the man spat.

“And you shouldn’t be out in polite company at all,” Minyard snarled.

“What’s going on over here?” The owner of the bar came out of his office and loomed over the three of them. Wyburn, Neil thought his name was.

“Your asshole bartender threatened me,” The man blustered. “I demand that you fire him and clear my tab for the evening for my inconvenience.”

Wyburn turned to Minyard. “Andrew?”

Andrew said. ”The man doesn’t know the meaning of the word consent.”

“Brady, this is strike three. You’re not welcome here any more,” Wyburn said, stretching to his full height and crossing his impressively tattooed arms.

“I’m gonna tell all my friends how you treated me,” Brady blustered. “We’re all gonna boycott your stupid bar and you’re gonna go out of business.”

Wyburn looked around at the bustling bar. “You do that,” he said. “Now get the hell out of my bar.”

Brady looked as if he were going to make more of a scene but Wyburn took another step toward him and he thought better of it.

Neil tried to take a proper breath without wincing and thought about disappearing into the crowd but the owner was looking at him and the bartender’s shoulder propping him up was the only reason he wasn’t on the floor right now.

“I’m not going to make a scene,” he said. “I’ll leave quietly.”

“Geez kid, are you okay?” Wyburn asked.

“I’m fine,” Neil said, giving up on making it off the bar stool and leaning back into Minyard.

“Right,” Wyburn said. “Andrew, where is Dan?”

“Her boy toy showed up and they disappeared into the back,” Andrew said.

“Of course they did,” Wyburn sighed. “Look, I’ll watch the bar. You should get this guy home.”

“Oh, I don’t need…” Neil’s voice choked off in a wheeze as Andrew poked him sharply in the side.

“Cracked rib,” Andrew reported. 

“Yeah,” Wyburn rolled his eyes. “Andrew, take your friend home.”

“Not my friend,” Andrew said, but he was already helping Neil off the stool, a solid presence at his side that he surprisingly felt safe leaning on.

“Boyfriend, whatever,” Wyburn glared.

“Wyburn,” Neil started.

“Wymack,” the big man interrupted.

Neil flushed red. “Wymack, I came with my friend Matt. He tends to panic when he’s drunk. I don’t want him to call the police.”

“Consider it done. Go home before you collapse,” Wymack said gruffly.

Andrew was already moving. Neil just followed. He expected him to be rough but Andrew was strong and moved him quickly but in a way that kept the jostling to a minimum. Minutes later, he was being ushered into the passenger seat of a big, black monstrosity of a car.

Neil dozed off in the passenger seat, not waking until the engine shut off. He looked out the window. “This isn’t my apartment,” he said.

“No shit, Sherlock,” Andrew replied. “You were out.”

“I can walk home from here,” Neil said, struggling to get out of the car.

“Do you even know where you are?” Andrew asked.

Neil looked around but didn’t see anything familiar. He hesitated for too long and Andrew was there, pulling him out of the car and up the stairs into a tiny apartment. There was a patchy furred grey cat greeting them at the door. Neil almost tripped as it wound itself around his ankles.

“Fuck off, you furry menace,” Andrew said, gently pushing her away with his foot. “That’s King Fluffkins. She thinks she owns the place.”

“I have a cat too,” Neil said.

“Didn’t ask,” Andrew cut him off before maneuvering him down into a mostly reclining position on the sofa.

Neil winced as the pain in his side flared up again but he looked around at the house, interested to learn a bit more about the cranky bartender. There were a few snapshots stuck up on mostly bare walls, Andrew with another man who looked identical, the two of them with a tall, dark haired man in a rainbow crop top, Andrew with a girl with rainbow hair, almost smiling and looking at her with a softer look in his eyes than Neil could imagine seeing.

The cat had curled up in an old amazon box in the corner and had gone to sleep. There was an expensive looking cat bed right next to it. It was the only thing in the room that didn’t appear to be covered in cat hair.

Andrew didn’t seem like the Christmas tree type, but one of those sat on a table in the corner covered in obnoxiously orange decorations and the cheesiest tinsel star on top. Neil immediately loved it.

“Renee insisted on setting that up,” Andrew said, rolling his eyes as he set down a steaming cup of hot chocolate, a bottle of water, and a couple of red pills and sat down by Neil’s feet on the couch.

“What’s that?” Neil asked as Andrew shoved the pills toward him. 

“Just tylenol,” Andrew said. “I’m not going to drug you.”

Neil felt his face heat. “I know,” he said. He tossed back the pills with some water and then took a sip of the hot chocolate. He wrinkled his nose at how sweet it was and set it down. Andrew shrugged and disappeared into the kitchen for a minute, coming back with a cup of tea instead and setting that in front of Neil.

“You didn’t have to do that,” Neil said.

“Do what?” Andrew asked, sipping at the cup of neglected hot chocolate.

“Pretend to be my boyfriend,” Neil replied. “Is your girlfriend okay with that?”

Andrew choked on the hot chocolate. “Girlfriend?” he wheezed.

Neil pointed to the photo of the girl with rainbow hair.

“Oh, Renee,” Andrew said when he got his breath back. “We’re not dating. I think her girlfriend would have something to say about that. And besides, my tastes lie elsewhere.”

“Oh,” Neil said. “Well you still didn’t have to do it.”

“I know,” Andrew said, standing abruptly and taking his cup into the kitchen. Neil moved to follow him but his side immediately reminded him why that was a terrible idea.

“Don’t move, idiot,” Andrew said.

Neil nodded but was in too much pain to speak.

Andrew knelt by the couch. “Can I see?” he asked.

Neil braced himself for the familiar panic at the thought of anyone seeing his scars but it didn’t come and he felt himself nodding.

Andrew carefully dragged up the hem of his shirt. He didn’t bat an eye at the scarring on Neil’s abdomen. His fingers carefully skated along the darkest of the bruising, pressing lightly. Neil bit his lip to keep from crying out.

“You’re breathing okay? Besides the pain, I mean. No feeling like you’re suffocating?” Andrew asked.

Neil shook his head. “I’m fine,” he said.

“No, you’re not fine,” Andrew rolled his eyes. “But you’re not dying either. Ribs feel stable. It’ll probably just be painful for a while”

“I’ve had worse,” Neil said.

Andrew snorted. “Obviously.”

The cat stood from her box and trotted over to the couch. She jumped up and crawled into Neil’s lap.

“You little asshole,” Andrew said. “Go back to your box.”

“It’s okay,” Neil said, stroking his fingers through her soft grey fur. “I like cats.”

Andrew shrugged and took his place on the other end of the couch. He reached for the remote and turned the television on. A movie was playing that Neil had never seen. There was a furry, cranky green monster running around trying to ruin Christmas and Neil was instantly engaged.

They watched the movie in silence and then Andrew got Neil a blanket. It was fuzzy and also bright orange and so warm. King gave him a death glare when she was forced to crawl out from under the blanket but she soon resettled herself on his lap and started purring.

“Thank you,” Neil whispered drowsily to Andrew.

“You’re welcome,” Andrew said with a look that Neil didn’t understand on his face.

Neil smiled at him and couldn’t stop.

“Don’t look at me like that,” Andrew said.

“Like what?” Neil asked.

“Like I mean something,” Andrew said, refusing to meet Neil’s eyes. “Just, go to sleep.” And he disappeared into the bedroom, slamming the door.

Neil closed his eyes but kept smiling into the darkness. This was probably the best Christmas Eve he had ever had.


End file.
